Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Okay - let's start off I want NO SYMPATHY here. It is what it is. Anyway......I have a 93 Deville owned in family since new. Now it's at a tick below 90k miles. From a "need" standpoint, I dont need the car...I have another daily driver and a different "backup". This is my 3rd car. I like it...and think its sort of a respect factor to my parents/grandparents to take care ot it. Normally I do my own stuff, but work took precedence - so whatever.

Fall 2008 I took my car to a local "trusted" shop to have my coolant system for its annual flush/refill of coolant and supplement tabs. The car was bought Nov 1992 and has been a ritual since. It got a clean bill of health and we moved on. Car garaged. My parents know the owner of the shop I took it to, but he's pretty disconnected from the day to day operations of the shop.

Come late Winter 2008 (2 mo later) ...little heat. Take it back to the same shop, they say the heater core must be clogged and needs to be replaced. Per my request, they reluctantly did a more intensive flush with the same result. I let it go until recently.

Between the "Little Heat" and now, I learned I had Leukimia, advanced stage. I have to think the owner of the shop knows, as he and my parents talk often.

Now...I have everything under control healthwise and things are looking better. Work has slowed down and since I've been feeling a lot better, I swapped out the core last weekend.

Still, no (or very very little) heat.
Did some reading here and find info on the "T". Pop the hood and find the T is REVERSED. The restrictor is on the drivers side of the T.
I switched the T and viola....HEAT!!

so I ran it by the owner of the before-mentioned shop. Owner brings his Cadillac mechanic over. Said mechanic says there's no way the T could have been reversed for a year. If it was, the car would be toast. It would have overheated LONG before now. It will ONLY cool properly if the T was right and he would have immediately noticed that.

My question is...............how possible is it for
A - something have taken place to generate interest in said shop performing core replacement (estimate $600)
B - Something fishy taken place at the shop to initiate my interest in having them perform the repair.

Please advise - I'm not out to judge anyone - just looking for honest opions.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Since my car is older, I don't specifically know about the "T", but if it's in the heater coolant flow circuit, I don't understand how it could affect engine cooling, and the "toast" statement. There folks here who are experienced with the T fitting, and they will have the correct answer. My impression is that the so-called Cadillac mechanic is trying to cover his a$$.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Those guys are definitely BSing you. Stay away. Coolant change does not require touching the T. So it WAS reversed on purpose, unless it was cracked and needed to be replaced, and someone made an honest mistake. Quoting $600 for heater core replacement is way too much. The core is about $30 and it is pretty much a DIY job, though not a favorite one.

Nothing is wrong with your Caddy. Do not worry about anything. They also might be interested in making you sell them the "defective" car for next to nothing.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

The "T" has an arrow pointing coolant flow direction. It must point TOWARD the passenger side of the car. I recommend replacing it and orienting correctly. Also make sure you get all the air of the system and never check the coolant again by removing the radiator cap. Always use the overlflow.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Originally Posted by chrisalcorn

The "T" has an arrow pointing coolant flow direction. It must point TOWARD the passenger side of the car. I recommend replacing it and orienting correctly. Also make sure you get all the air of the system and never check the coolant again by removing the radiator cap. Always use the overlflow.

It DOES make sense to check the coolant inside the radiator when it is COLD, because in some cases the hose connecting the reservoir to the radiator neck gets clogged, so that one may think there is sufficient coolant in the system while the radiator is half-empty.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

In a nutshell, I went ahead and swapped the heater core, as I assume its original. Plus it was time for the annual coolant drain. Got a OEM core from Rockauto for a couple of bucks, also a new "T". Using the FSM and help from this forum,the job took me maybe 2.5 hrs (don't laugh). Filled it with a 60/40 mix of green coolant and added the GM seal tabs. Purged the air from the system and all seems well now. Thanks for being here, the wealth of knowledge and opinion from experience is invaluable.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Your 2.5 puts me to shame lol, Mine took the better part of the day and I didn't even change the coolant lol. Its been over 3 weeks and the cuts I got on my hand taking the hoses off the core still have not fully healed. Though if I had to do it again I feel that it would take less then an hour

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Originally Posted by Lance Allison

In a nutshell, I went ahead and swapped the heater core, as I assume its original. Plus it was time for the annual coolant drain. Got a OEM core from Rockauto for a couple of bucks, also a new "T". Using the FSM and help from this forum,the job took me maybe 2.5 hrs (don't laugh). Filled it with a 60/40 mix of green coolant and added the GM seal tabs. Purged the air from the system and all seems well now. Thanks for being here, the wealth of knowledge and opinion from experience is invaluable.

Check the coolant level after two-three engine heating and cooling cycles. It took me more than 2.5 hours to finish the job. Good job.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

Will do on the coolant level. I've added to the overflow bottle twice so far. I think what saved a lot of time was having the correct hose spring clamp pliers with remote handles for compressing the clamp. Without those, it would have taken a whole lot longer.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

By the way, in the future you can siphon coolant with about 1/4" pvc tube through the neck of the radiator. That way you will get more than a gallon of coolant out of system. Just push the tube all the way to the bottom of the radiator side tank. No mess and takes 15 minutes.

Re: Judgement Call - No Heat 93 Deville

I din't have any heat in my 95 Deville and everything else looked fine. My husband told me to change this thing in front of the radiator thats about the size of your finger. ( He calls its a temperature prode. I don't know what it is) well its by the hood latch and is electrical. I did and not I have some heat. If anyone knows what it is I would like to know it that changing it made any sense, but I have heat now.